Biography
Morrie Ryskind was an American dramatist, lyricist and screenwriter. He studied at Columbia University and began his career writing for Broadway revues and collaborating with George S. Kaufman on several productions.
Ryskind wrote or co-wrote screenplays for the Marx Brothers films The Cocoanuts (1929), Animal Crackers (1930) and A Night at the Opera (1935), as well as My Man Godfrey (1936) and Stage Door (1937). He shared a Pulitzer Prize for drama for the 1931 musical Of Thee I Sing. He received Academy Award nominations for the screenplays of My Man Godfrey and Stage Door.
Later in life Ryskind became a conservative political activist and columnist.
